I know, I know…here comes another post telling everyone how to increase web traffic. Kinda, but not really…
At our core essence, Trinity Web Media & Web Development is a problem-solving organization. Everything we do relates back to business problems. This premise of problem-solving is also the basis of our podcast, The New Marketing Show. So, this is not just another post about x-amount of ways to increase web traffic, but rather how to solve a severe business problem you may be experiencing.
Little or no web traffic is a serious business problem. Without traffic to your site you are forfeiting the opportunity to position your brand’s expertise, increase search visibility, create community and increase your conversion rates.
How To Increase Web Traffic
- Publish content regularly to your website: Google and other search engines love crawling and ranking websites that stay up to date on topics relevant to your site. Does your site have a blog? Do you use it? Do you have a content strategy or calendar that keeps you on track? If you answered no to any of the above questions you need to step up your content marketing game. Posting regular content lets your audience know you are involved in your industry and topics. This approach also gives search engines a reason to index your site.
TIP: Use a tool like Google trends or Google keywords to see what keywords and phrases other sites in your vertical are using. Then, create content around those keywords. - Answer questions that are important to your customers: If you structure your site’s content to answer questions that are important to your market segment and position your site as an authority in your space. Move away from clever, fluffy marketing content that gives everyone hugs and get down to brass tacks. Give the audience what they need and what they want. If your answers are on point and well constructed, you will see a lift in web traffic.
TIP: Ask your sales team to keep a running list of questions they are asked. This tactic keeps you in tune with your target audience and will give you endless opportunities to produce quality content. - Strategically increase your social media presence: Please re-read that and make sure you caught the key word in the sentence — Strategically. Ask yourself, where does my ideal client spend most of their time online? Is it Facebook? Instagram? Pinterest? Twitter? Linkedin? Once you identify the primary and secondary social networks, you can formulate a strategy. Every piece of content should be helpful, educational and well, social. Do not try to sell on these platforms. Bring all posts and content back to the goal of educating while giving them links to go to your company’s website.
TIP: Don’t get caught up in the number of followers or likes etc, instead be concerned with engagement and the conversations you are stimulating. - SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Your website needs to be optimized for the SERPS (search engine result pages.) A poorly constructed website with no SEO has no chance of sifting through the noise of today’s busy web. Optimize all content, images, and titles for keywords and search phrases important to your audience. This is something you can tackle on your own or hire a reputable marketing agency to handle. If sourcing to an outside organization, it is wise to ask about their track record and case studies or white papers speaking to their previous success.
TIP: When optimizing your site or even producing content, always do so with a real person and persona in mind versus search engine algorithms. Your audience is made up of real people giving you their time, please treat them with respect or lose them forever. - Get creative: There are other ways to bring people to your site. Consider pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, being a guest on a podcast, hosting your own topical podcast, tap in to the POWER of YouTube and star in your own videos. These are just some other traditional digital marketing strategy that work for increasing traffic to your site.
TIP: Before going down this route make sure their is a strategy in place. It’s ok if you are uncertain about the strategy at first, make sure you start with a strategy that is cohesive with your brand and the four above issues. Measure everything, always measure progress.
These five tips are just pieces to the overall puzzle. Not having enough web traffic is a serious business challenge, but not something that can’t be fixed. Use this as a guideline to create better content for your site and do more of what works and stop doing what does work.
